16 Feb 2026 Climate action requires truth: COP30 must codify information integrity

“We must fight the coordinated disinformation campaigns impeding global progress on climate change.” (Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General)

This Open Letter with over 200 signatories was released on 12 November 2025, on the official thematic day on information integrity at COP30 in Belém. We, the undersigned individuals, civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples, governors, mayors, faith leaders, agencies and companies urge all national government delegations to champion a strong, ambitious, and mandatory decision at COP30 to uphold information integrity on climate change. This crucial window of opportunity must not be wasted, and the fossil fuel industry’s manipulation of public discourse must be stopped.

While many extreme weather events worsen and the 2025 UNEP Emissions Gap Report warns we are on track to dangerously exceed the 1.5°C goal, vested economic and political interests – chiefly those in the fossil fuel industry – continue to organize and finance disinformation campaigns. While the vast majority of people globally demand climate action, the calculated production and dissemination of misinformation and disinformation is designed to hold back climate action. By creating a false perception of public division and apathy, these campaigns are derailing effective climate policy and actively discrediting renewable energy solutions, slowing the essential energy transition.

The degradation and pollution in the information ecosystem is not merely a climate crisis; it is a multi-faceted global emergency. As demonstrated by recent studies from the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) and Climate Social Science Network, organized climate obstruction activities are actively delaying the human response to the crisis, directly sabotaging international cooperation, making the Paris Agreement goals unattainable, and putting the lives of millions at risk. Disinformation is thus a direct and immediate threat to:

• Public Health: Every falsehood delays climate action, translating into real harm: children breathing toxic air, families displaced by floods, and communities facing heatstroke and hunger. The same playbook once used by Big Tobacco is now weaponized by fossil fuel interests.
• Human Rights and Security: Disinformation erodes trust in institutions, misleads the public during disasters, and obstructs rapid, life-saving transitions. It is a fundamental threat to the just, democratic, and science-based action required, and must be treated as a security and human rights concern.

These threats to the general public are exacerbated by the unregulated and unchecked power of Big Tech and vested-interest media, as the primary vehicles for mass-producing and disseminating the manipulative and divisive content that is hindering climate action and threatening freedom of speech, democracies, and human rights.

Information Integrity is Non-Negotiable

Access to accurate information is essential for effective climate action and the fulfilment of human rights. To secure the foundation of information integrity and accelerate climate action, national governments must move decisively from mere recognition to mandatory, verifiable action.

We demand that all Parties at COP30 UNEQUIVOCALLY RECOGNIZE that upholding information integrity on climate change is a prerequisite for effective climate action, the protection of rule of law, people’s health and the fulfilment of fundamental human rights.

Such an official acknowledgement will underpin all actions grounded in scientific evidence and reliable data, promoting trustworthy policies and increasing public confidence and building on the important progress already made. The IPCC now acknowledges the detrimental impact of climate disinformation, the EU Parliament has officially recognized the threat, and the launch of the Global Principles for Information Integrity underscores international consensus. This is a vital step towards realizing the goals of the Global Digital Compact, yet we must not stop at mere recognition. We must fundamentally change the structures, business models and incentives that create opaque, unfair, and unsafe communications systems.

A Call for Political Will and Robust Commitments

The global community has a window of opportunity to codify this commitment. We welcome the historic inclusion of information integrity on the COP agenda, thanks in large part to the advocacy of the Brazilian Government and the Global Initiative on Information Integrity for Climate Change (co-led by the UN, UNESCO, and Brazil).

Now, COP30 must be used to amplify the Global Initiative and galvanize further international action on climate information integrity. We expect this COP to deliver a concrete direction that showcases the political will of all Parties to uphold information integrity on climate change and commit to taking robust, verifiable action for its safeguarding.

The threat to information integrity requires action across the entire ecosystem. Technology platforms, the media, and the advertising sector have profound responsibilities. We insist that these stakeholders must take robust, proactive, and independently verifiable measures, including monitoring and evaluation, to uphold and improve the integrity of information on climate matters. Policymakers and national governments must use their legislative and regulatory powers to curb the power of platforms that profit from the spread of manipulative content. Greenwashing, platform manipulation, and the monetization of disinformation must end immediately.

From Recognition to Action

Brazil, your leadership is historic. We applaud your commitment to the Global Initiative on Information Integrity for Climate Change and for ensuring this critical issue is a central part of the COP agenda.

But now, the world is watching for an actionable outcome from COP30. We urge Brazil, alongside the entire coalition of supporting nations, to champion a strong, ambitious COP decision that moves decisively beyond mere recognition to mandatory, verifiable action from all Parties.

We also call on all Parties of the UNFCCC to actively use their influence to ensure a rapid and widespread adherence to the Global Initiative on Information Integrity for Climate Change. The momentum generated here must be accelerated and sustained through Belém and future COPs, ensuring that upholding information integrity becomes a commitment supported by a broad and powerful international coalition.

We demand swift and robust global action to uphold information integrity and take measures against these threats. This transformation should be ignited here in Belém with an official acknowledgement of the need to uphold information integrity and a signal to the digital media, legacy media, public relations and advertising sectors that governments are expecting them to carry out their responsibilities for information integrity on climate change.